Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Countrywide Financial(CFC), the biggest US mortgage lender, said profit will rebound form the first quarterly loss in 25 years as it cuts jobs and tightens lending standards. The shares soared 31%, the most in two decades.
- Mortgage insurers including Genworth Financial(GNW) and Radian Group(RDN) surged in NY trading after lender Countrywide Financial(CFC) said it’s returning to profitability after a third-quarter “trough.”
- Merrill Lynch(MER) surged the most in five years on speculation Chairman and CEO Stan O’Neal will be ousted and the world’s biggest brokerage with become a takeover target.
- Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said moves to restrict foreign investment in stocks yesterday were aimed at slowing capital flows from overseas that have caused a spurt in shares and the currency.
- Oil rose above $92 a barrel for the first time in NY as investment funds increased bets on the commodity after the US accused Iran’s military of supporting terrorism and announced new sanctions on the country that holds the world’s second-biggest oil reserves.
- The House will approve a bill raising taxes for buyout firms and hedge-fund managers next month, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Democrat Charles Rangel said.
- Deckers Outdoor(DECK), the maker of Ugg and Teva shoes, rose the most in 4 ½ years in US trading after reporting third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and increasing its full-year sales and profit forecasts.

Wall Street Journal:
- Card Data Ruling May Shift Security to Retailers.

NY Times:
- Cement Industry at Center of Climate Change Debate.
- Macy’s and Hilfiger Strike Exclusive Deal.

USAToday.com:
- ‘Gray Googlers’ Find Web Income in Retirement.

LA Times:
- Marines declare war on garbage in Iraq. With Ramadi now quiet, troops turn to waste collection as a way to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis.

AFP:
- Iraq said talks with Turkey over steps to combat Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq have produced “positive results,” citing Iraqi defense ministry spokesman Muhammed Askeri.